Introduction to Computer Assisted Reporting

My job was made easier given Wikileaks latest release dominating Sunday’s (and Monday’s) papers. This story (indeed all of the major Wikileaks stories this year) are a testament to the power of Computer Assisted Reporting.

For many years we have lagged far behind the US (and to a lesser extent some continental European countries), but in Wikileaks, CAR in the UK has truly come of age.

However, it would be wrong to assume that CAR is only helpful when looking for needles in haystacks in big, international stories.

CAR is just as useful in a local context.

For that reason (and partly because our course is NCTJ-accredited), I’ve drawn my examples from local news issues; crime in London, and Hillingdon Council’s incomings and outgoings. The second example in particular, is intended to be taught in conjunction with local Public Affairs.